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New CNN Poll: Warren Surging, Biden Slipping; Saudi Diplomat: Trump Pressed Ukraine to Investigate Biden's Son; Police, Demonstrators Clash in 16th Week of Hong Kong Protests; "Act of War" If Attack Launched from Iran; North Korean Defector Found Dead with Her Son; UNGA to Address Overheating World; Violence Erupts during Paris Climate Protest; Rep. Joe Kennedy Makes a Run for the Senate; Politicians and Babies. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired September 22, 2019 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Warren on the rise: Elizabeth Warren is sweeping ahead in one of the most sought after U.S. states in the presidential election.
Also, Joe Biden striking back against allegations involving him and his son. He says it's all a smear campaign by the president.
Also:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Are we on the threshold of a military response, do you believe?
ADEL AL-JUBEIR, SAUDI FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We don't want war. The U.S. doesn't want war. But it is really up to the Iranians.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN (voice-over): And one-on-one with a top Saudi Arabian diplomat. He takes on the tensions with Iran and what might come next.
I'm coming to you live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen.
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ALLEN: Our top story: new CNN polling and a new name atop the list of presidential hopefuls in a key state. The CNN/"The Des Moines Register" poll shows Senator Elizabeth Warren running ahead of the pack, just edging out former Vice President Joe Biden.
Keep in mind the poll is just for the state of Iowa and it is within the margin of error. But Iowa is a crucial step toward getting the Democrats' nomination
and taking on president Donald Trump. CNN political director David Chalian gives us some perspective.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: There is a new state of the race for the Democratic president nomination in that first critical kickoff contest in Iowa. A brand-new exclusive CNN/"The Des Moines Register" poll out today shows the new state of that race.
Elizabeth Warren has surged in Iowa. She is at 22 percent now among likely Iowa Democratic caucusgoers. Joe Biden is at 20 percent. Bernie Sanders is at 11 percent, Pete Buttigieg down at 9 percent, Kamala Harris at 6 percent and Cory Booker and Amy Klobuchar both at 3 percent each.
This is clearly a race now where Warren and Biden are the top tier. Nobody else is joining them in that top tier in this race. It is important to note that there is no clear leader in this race.
The margin of error in the poll is plus or minus 4 percent. Obviously, there's only a 2-point difference here. So there is no clear leader but there are clear trend lines. They are that Warren is on the rise as Biden has faded over time, though still clearly in a competitive contest.
Take a look compared to June. Warren is at 22 percent now. She was 15 percent then. She's up 7 percent. Joe Biden down 3 percent from June. He was at 23 percent. Now at 20 percent. Bernie Sanders down 5 percent. Pete Buttigieg down 6 points and Kamala Harris hold steady at 6 percent.
Another score that we look at is we ask voters your first choice or who is your second choice or who are you actively considering?
We put all that together. Take a look at this score. Elizabeth Warren out in front here, 71 percent of likely Iowa Democratic caucusgoers say Warren is their first choice, second choice or they are actively considering her. That's up 10 points since June.
Whereas everyone else holds relative steady. Buttigieg and Harris, an uptick of 3 points each. Sanders down 6. Biden holds steady. But it is Warren who is making gains.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: While campaigning in Iowa, Biden is defending his family and slamming President Trump. The presidential candidate says he wants an investigation after reports Mr. Trump asked the leader of Ukraine to dig up dirt on Biden and his son, Hunter.
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JOE BIDEN, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Trump is doing this because he knows I'll beat him like a drum and he is using the abuse of power and every element of the presidency to try to do something to smear me.
He abuses power everywhere he can and if he sees any threat to his staying in power, he will do whatever he has to do. But this crosses the line.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: The Trump team has suggested Biden used his position as vice president to shield his son from an investigation involving a Ukrainian energy company. But to be clear, there is no evidence of that and the allegations have been discredited.
[04:05:00]
ALLEN: Those reports that the White House tried to press Ukraine on the Bidens stemmed from a whistleblower complaint. The inspector general for the United States intelligence community deemed it credible and urgent. But President Trump is trying to dismiss it as a partisan witch hunt. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has details from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Donald Trump is striking out at this whistleblower complaint that he's now facing. And the president is turning to a very familiar playbook, the, same one that he used when he was faced with the investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller.
That investigation, the president referred to as the Russia witch hunt. Now as the president faces this whistleblower complaint, he's calling it the Ukraine witch hunt, insisting that it is being fueled by the media, being fueled by Democrats
And he's also going after the credibility of the complainants even though the president says he doesn't know the identity of that complainant. He's insisting this is a political hack job, calling the whistleblower "a partisan," even though he has no evidence to back that claim up.
That also flies in the face of the fact that the intelligence community's inspector general, who was appointed by the president, confirmed by the Senate, has given credibility to these allegations by disagreeing directly with the acting Director of National Intelligence's decision not to share that complaint with Congress.
Writing in a letter to congressional leaders that he does feel that this complaint matches that urgent notification threshold. This issue is sure not to go away this week and the acting Director of National Intelligence is set to testify on Capitol Hill later this week.
The president himself will be meeting with the Ukrainian president on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly -- at the White House, Jeremy Diamond, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE) ALLEN: Ukraine's foreign minister is defending Mr. Trump's call with the Ukrainian president but he isn't saying it didn't involve the Bidens. Here he was Saturday.
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VADYM PRYSTAIKO, UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Our president has a right to talk to another president the way this conversation remains confidential. If someone believes that our president is being put under pressure they have to prove it.
I know what the conversation was about and I think that there was no pressure. There was sock (ph) conversations are different. Leaders have the right to discuss any problems that exist.
This conversation was long, friendly and it touched on a lot of questions, including those requiring serious answers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: That was Ukraine's foreign minister there.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is set to meet with President Trump at the U.N. General Assembly next week.
Let's talk about these developments with Inderjeet Parmar, professor of international politics at City University of London.
Good to see you. Good morning to you.
INDERJEET PARMAR, CITY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: Good morning, good to see you.
ALLEN: Thank you.
Is Mr. Trump in a sense accusing Joe Biden of doing precisely what Mr. Trump reportedly did with the Ukrainian president, so says the whistleblower, with the Ukrainian president?
PARMAR: I think that's exactly right. I think each of the two leaders, President Trump and Vice President Biden, basically were carrying out various kinds of actions which included possibly their families as well.
But at the higher level, it is the kind of force or coercion of a foreign leader in order to do something they don't otherwise want to do. So there is a whiff of empire trying to whip an ally into place as well.
So I would say their to-ing and fro-ing between these two particular issues is going to carry on. It seems to be that it will damage each of them in different ways. But it will probably damage American politics much more and turn people off politics.
That may be the precise reason why President Trump is focusing on Vice President Biden at that particular time. I think he wants to divert some attention. But he played that card with Hillary Clinton in 2016. And I think his aim is to slice a few people away, to make them stay at home in 2020 and thereby undermine the Democratic candidate.
ALLEN: The president is calling this issue another witch hunt.
The question is, will we find out?
Will the whistleblower's complaint be investigated?
If the White House continues to hold it from Congress, we are back to a fight between congressional Democrats and the White House over the release of information.
PARMAR: Absolutely. If Congress plays the old game, which they have been playing for the last two or three years, which is waiting on an investigation or for information from the executive, I think they are not going to get too far. What some people are saying within the legal community in the United States is that the Congress needs to nurture witnesses.
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PARMAR: Not just the whistleblower but witnesses who are willing to collaborate with Congress to try to bring more information to bear. That may be the way to break the deadlock because this administration has shown they are not too concerned with constitutional process or procedure.
They don't want to really give up any information which may be damaging. And they are controlling it in a drip-drip fashion when they do release it. This alienation away from constitutional processes, I think, is going to carry on.
Congress has got to play a much more clever game to try to nurture witnesses on its own and thereby gain more information. And I think that would be the step toward then really seeing what was going on and then perhaps this abuse of power, if it is that, could then lead to actual, credible impeachment processes.
ALLEN: Yes. And you mentioned how this issue could affect the United States globally with its integrity. With reports that the White House withheld military aid to Ukraine, how serious is this for Mr. Trump if he manipulated foreign policy to pressure another country to take action on a U.S. presidential candidate?
PARMAR: Well, that is an impeachment offense. If true, it's an impeachable offense. First, he is trying to coerce a foreign leader to do something they would not otherwise do: abuse of power.
Second, they are trying to get a foreign power to release dirt on a political rival, second problem.
And the third problem is it affects the civil liberties of an American citizen, Hunter Biden. That is an impeachable offense.
The key issue is, is Congress going to play a game, which is -- play their cards in such a manner as to be effective as opposed to making a great deal of noise?
I think that is the big problem. They need to get a lot more smart. But in the end, this is abuse of power. To withhold $250 million of military aid, I think, is a big problem for President Trump.
But unfortunately, as we know, Natalie, his support base is so solid, it is almost a cult-like character to it. But the behavior of the American president is the behavior of some sort of a godfather rather than an American president necessarily.
ALLEN: Well, as this story develops, we will likely talk with you again about it. Inderjeet Parmar for us, thank you.
PARMAR: Thank you very much.
Saudi Arabia blames Iran for strikes on its oil facilities. And if they are proven right, they say it would have been an act of war. Our interview with a top Saudi diplomat. That's next.
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ALLEN: Hundreds of protesters are crammed inside a Hong Kong shopping mall right now. They are causing disruptions for shops they believe are pro-Beijing. It has been a largely peaceful demonstration on the 16th straight week of pro-democracy protests.
However, moments ago, we saw a crowd dragging a Chinese flag on the floor, possibly spraying paint on it before dragging it around some more. But it follows a night of violent clashes after a lawful march devolved into chaos.
Riot police shot tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators armed with rocks, bottles and gas bombs.
Saudi Arabia has a new message for Iran as it continues to blame the country for an attack on its oil facilities. The Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs tells CNN, the kingdom would consider the strikes an act of war if an international investigation finds they were launched from Iranian soil.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AL-JUBEIR: We want Iran to behave like a normal nation. We want Iran to stop being a revolution and be a nation state and we want Iran to stop interfering in the affairs of other countries and supporting terrorist groups and we want them to stop providing ballistic missiles to terrorist groups. And we want them to make sure that they are never in a position to acquire a nuclear weapon. We want to be good neighbors. We want to have good relations with Iran. We want to trade with them.
But we can't do this if all we get from them is death and destruction. For 40 years we have tried to extend our hand in friendship to the Iranians and all we got was death and destruction.
ROBERTSON: And right now, their top politicians, President Rouhani, the foreign minister, Zarif, are going to be in New York.
What value are the conversations they have if they don't represent the country?
AL-JUBEIR: I think that the Iranians need to hear a united and a firm message from the international community that this behavior is not acceptable and this behavior must stop.
ROBERTSON: They've heard that message before, they've heard that very loudly.
AL-JUBEIR: They need to hear it more and there needs to be action --
(CROSSTALK)
AL-JUBEIR: -- appeasement with Iran does not work. For example, trying to set up a parallel financial payment system is appeasement. Trying to give them a line of credit is appeasement. It just emboldens them. The Iranians have to know that there will be consequences to their actions.
ROBERTSON: But their message has been behavior and changes toward Iran, like the United States pulling out of the JCPOA, the joint nuclear deal, to try to get a better deal and to try to get control of the missiles, to try to push the timeline on all those horizons.
HAs that blown up and backfired because what we've seen is, from your assessment, the hardliners are on the rise and more aggressive behavior. And you're suffering for it.
AL-JUBEIR: Iran is feeling the pressure of the sanctions, no doubt.
ROBERTSON: Are you feeling the heat of that pressure?
This attack on your country, if you are right, that Iran did this, you are feeling the heat of that pressure?
AL-JUBEIR: Yes, but we do not engage in appeasement. We will do whatever it takes to protect our country and our citizens and our residents and our facilities. And we will work with our allies in order to ensure that this happens.
ROBERTSON: Are we on the threshold of a military response, do you believe?
AL-JUBEIR: We do not want war. The U.S. doesn't want war. But it's really up to the Iranians. If they continue along this path, then they risk the possibility of military action but nobody wants war. Everyone wants to resolve this peacefully. And the end result has to be an end to Iran's aggressive policies.
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ROBERTSON: I don't see the difference at the moment, if you don't mind me saying, of Iran producing these weapons and then waiting for an investigation to find out where they were fired from because surely it all amounts to the same thing, that you're going to come to the same point.
Eventually, are you playing for time by saying that we're investigating right now when you perhaps have a very strong inclination?
AL-JUBEIR: We hold Iran responsible because the missiles and the drones that were fired are not only against Abqaiq and Khurais but also from Yemen were Iranian built and Iranian delivered missiles.
So we hold them responsible.
(CROSSTALK)
AL-JUBEIR: To launch an attack from your territory, if that is the case, puts us in a different category.
ROBERTSON: What's the different category?
AL-JUBEIR: This would be considered an act of war.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: We'll have more from Nic Robertson later in the program.
Meanwhile, Iran is pushing back against U.S. pressure after Washington said it would send troops to Saudi Arabia to help defend the kingdom. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tehran will not allow anyone to violate its borders. He was speaking at a ceremony in Tehran marking the start of Iran's war with Iraq.
He warned against the presence of foreign forces in the region.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HASSAN ROUHANI, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The security of the Persian Gulf is intraregional. The security of the Strait of Hormuz is intraregional. Foreign forces can cause problems and insecurity for our people and for our region.
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ALLEN: Mr. Rouhani is set to take part in the U.N. General Assembly this week in New York. He said Iran would inform the assembly of a plan for securing the Gulf with the help of other nations.
Let's talk more with our guest, Bobby Ghosh, editorial board member at Bloomberg News, live from London.
Thank you for being with us.
First up, do you get a sense of a drumbeat of war?
We just heard from Saudi Arabia. We heard from Iran.
But do you get a sense of any drumbeat of war between these two countries over this attack in Saudi Arabia?
BOBBY GHOSH, BLOOMBERG NEWS: Most of the noise about war is coming from the Iranians. We just heard the Saudi foreign minister trying to make sort of -- almost making excuses not to go to war.
From the American side, we have heard the Trump administration say repeatedly that they don't want a war and they would like (INAUDIBLE) but from the Iranian side you are seeing missiles and you are seeing (INAUDIBLE) war.
The Iranian (INAUDIBLE) today refused to rule out the possibility of war. So it seems like that a couple of months ago, it seemed like both sides were being quite bellicose (ph) and the rhetoric looks like it was rising to the level of -- that we saw before the war in Iraq.
But now it seems that the U.S. especially and the Saudis, to some degree, are being far more cautious in their response to these attacks; whereas Iran is becoming more provocative in the rhetoric from that side (INAUDIBLE).
ALLEN: So how does the increase in military might by the U.S. affect the situation?
Does it help ratchet up the threat or prevent it?
Do you expect at any point a military response by Saudi Arabia, if they do conclude this attack came from an Iranian base?
GHOSH: Well, I would be quite surprised if the Saudis launched a military strike on Iran. That would be a level of aggression that would basically inflame the entire region.
The American presence there is always tricky because it is not necessarily popular, certainly not popular with the Iranians and it's not always popular with ordinary Saudis. So it is a balance the U.S. has to strike.
But at the same time, we have seen that the Saudis have failed to protect their own oil installations. We have to remember this is not just an attack on Saudi Arabia. This is an attack on the global economic system. The Saudis are the world's largest suppliers and that particular installation in (INAUDIBLE) is there because it's an installation -- 50 percent of Saudi oil supply that is 6 percent of the global oil supply offline.
We've had a huge spike in oil prices that affects everybody, every country in the world that uses oil is affected by that strike. So it's not -- at the simplest level, it is an attack by Iran directed or using proxies on Saudi Arabia.
But at a higher altitude, this is something that affects the whole of the world. And the United States apparently is taking the position that it has interest in protecting the Saudi oil facility, economic interests as well as political interests.
And that's why it is trying to help the Saudis protect those facilities from these kinds of attacks.
ALLEN: Well, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls the arms sales and troop deployments outrageous.
[04:25:00]
ALLEN: She said Americans are weary of war and have no interest in entering another Middle East conflict, particularly on behalf of Saudi Arabia.
How would this look for President Trump if something were to happen here?
GHOSH: Well, it is a very fine balance he's walking. Trump, remember, is a person who came into the White House, promising no more wars, promising to withdraw American troops, to reduce America's footprint in the Middle East.
Here he is finding himself increasing that footprint, raising the number of American troops that are in that region. So this is not necessarily going to be very popular with his base. And this is a president who first and foremost seems to care about his base. And so this will be quite tricky for him.
On the one hand, he needs to send the Iranians a signal that their behavior will not be tolerated. On the other hand, (INAUDIBLE). So it is a very, very fine balance that everybody is walking.
ALLEN: Well, he did send a signal via new sanctions. We'll see the effect that those will have. We appreciate your insights on this, Bobby Ghosh for us from Bloomberg. Thank you so much.
GHOSH: Anytime, Natalie.
ALLEN: Next here, an overheating world. Activists all fired up to do something about it. But the leader of the free world, that would be President Trump, is taking a pass on the U.N.'s climate summit. We take a closer look at that next.
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ALLEN: Welcome back to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen with our headlines though hour. (HEADLINES)
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ALLEN: A mother risked everything to escape the poverty of North Korea, dreaming on of a better life in the South. But earlier this year, she and her young son were found dead. Reportedly, they starved to death. Paula Hancocks has our story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are believed to have starved to death in a land of plenty, a North Korean defector mother and her 6-year-old son are remembered by hundreds who never met them.
Eventually violence erupted. Han Sung-ok fled the brutality of North Korea in 2007. Years later, she left her husband, looking for sanctuary with her son in Seoul but they never found it. In July, police found the body of Han and her son in their home with no food in the house.
The responding officer said he suspected starvation. Kim Yong-hwa helped Han come to South Korea from China. Last year she called him to ask for his help in securing monthly financial support from the government.
KIM YONG-HWA, NORTH KOREAN DEFECTOR (through translator): She went to the welfare office but was denied help because she didn't have her divorce papers.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Han told Kim her ex-husband would never help her get the papers. He says she then hung and that was the last time he heard from her. Kim says after hearing the news, he thought of his decision to rescue her.
KIM (through translator): Why did I bring her here from her farm?
Even in rural China, you don't die of starvation.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Kim Jong-a (ph) didn't know Han but she knew her story because it could just have easily been her story. She fled the North. She was sold to a Chinese farmer, eventually escaping to the South to raise her son alone.
"When I decided to look for a job," she says, "I couldn't go to job interviews with a child on my back. The welfare office told me that if I sent my child to day care, the welfare support would be cut off the same day."
Kim says the government also underestimates the deep-set trauma many defectors arrive with. The welfare office told CNN that there's no record of Han seeking welfare support, though they do have a record of her visit last year.
The unification ministry has apologized for the deaths earlier in September and admits there are blind spots in the defector welfare system, which they are working on. For this mother and child, it's too late -- Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: A romantic marriage proposal has ended in tragedy for an American man vacationing in Tanzania. Steven Weber drowned after proposing to his girlfriend, Kanesha Antoine underwater. The couple were staying in a cabin off the coast of Tanzania with a bedroom submerged beneath the waves of the Indian Ocean.
Weber swam to a window, held up a note and showed Kanesha a ring. But then he never came back up to the surface.
After the tragedy, Kanesha posted her heartbreaking response on Facebook.
"You never emerged from those depths, so you never got to hear my answer, yes, yes. A million times, yes, I will marry you."
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ALLEN: The climate crisis will be at the top of the agenda when the U.N. General Assembly's new session kicks off this week. It brings together leaders from across the world to try to fix some of the world's toughest problems.
The U.N. already got the climate ball rolling with a weekend of events for young activists who have been driving the call to address our overheating Earth. Some 60 countries are expected to make new commitments at a high-level summit on climate change.
But the leader of the world's biggest economy won't be there, U.S. president Trump. He's skipping the climate gathering to lead a session on religious persecution.
While world leaders are gathering at the U.N., violent clashes broke out during a climate crisis march in Paris Saturday. A rally by activists in the Champs-Elysees was overtaken by Yellow Vests and anti-capitalist protesters. Greenpeace in France asked climate change demonstrators to leave when the violence started.
Let's talk with Amanda McKenzie, CEO of Australia's Independent Climate Council, joining us live from Skype in Melbourne.
Thanks so much, Amanda, for being with us. First up, millions of young people took to the streets Friday all over the world to demand leaders take action. The U.N. holds a summit this week. They seem to be listening.
Do you think the student strike will force global action on this?
AMANDA MCKENZIE, CLIMATE COUNCIL: Well, I think the strikes have been absolutely amazing. Here in Melbourne, we had 100,000 people on the streets and 300,000 people across Australia. And it shows here and globally just how concerned people are.
It is important that young people are leading it, given that it is their future. So that pressure will be felt by world leaders. I think it has already been felt. But this is only the start of an even bigger push by young people worldwide.
ALLEN: So how will that big push look next, do you think?
[04:40:00]
MCKENZIE: I have been working on this issue for 15 years. It feels like there is this penny-dropping moment worldwide. I think citizens are realizing that governments haven't done enough and are taking action into their own hands.
In my country of Australia, we've found that local governments have been taking action. Businesses, 2,500 businesses said their staff will go to this rally on Friday. So it seems like in all parts of the economy there is a push upwards to national governments.
ALLEN: That is encouraging. But at the same time China, U.S. and Europe are the leading smog polluters. President Trump skipped the climate meeting at the G7 Summit. He's skipping the climate summit this week at the U.N.
Also this week he worked to block California from cleaning up its air, reducing emissions. So he is fighting clean air in the United States and rolling back all kinds of environmental protections without the United States government.
Can this be achieved, that we can make real gains in holding off the world's heating?
MCKENZIE: I think everyone around the world is looking to America with horror, seeing Donald Trump's action on the environment or lack of action or blocking action. But you mentioned California. California is one of the biggest states obviously in America but also one of the biggest economies in the word. They have been showing a lot of leadership on this issue.
So you know, can we do it, can we not do it?
We actually don't know. We have got to just do as much we can, every jurisdiction around the world. So Donald Trump has been delaying action in America. But a lot of U.S. states and a lot of U.S. local/provincial governments are progressing action.
And that's happening all around the world. There is this grassroots push for change. So I think even though Donald Trump may try to obstruct action, I think there is still a huge push in the community. So everyone around the world just keeps having to do their best because time is limited.
ALLEN: Yes. And it comes down to burning fossil fuels. There is much talk of a 12-year deadline for the world to reverse climate change. That's due to last fall's scientific report, that, in order to limit warming to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit or 1.5 degrees Celsius the world will have to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by about half by 2030. That is a high calling.
Do you think that is possible?
MCKENZIE: Well, it's absolutely possible. I think it's a good analogy to look at landing a man on the moon, which the United States obviously pioneered. It wasn't all clear how to do it.
But in contrast to that, we have all the technology at our fingertips. Renewable energy is cheaper than the cost of fossil fuels now. We have dropping costs of EV. There is technology there. It's just a question of the political will.
ALLEN: Yes, it certainly is. That's been holding it back. But it seems like there has been a turning point and this youth strike around the world was an indicator of that because quite frankly, people who have been skeptical are now seeing what's happening.
You know, we have been talking about it. We are saying it's coming. Oftentimes until people feel it and see it, there's not action.
MCKENZIE: Well, that's right. In Australia, we had bush fires in Queensland that were devastating. The first ever catastrophic conditions declared in Queensland in winter. But the first time catastrophic conditions were announced was only a couple of years before. Now Queensland are having these terrible fires in winter.
So it's very much with us now and we need to share and we do share firefighting resources with California. But now they're having overlapping fire seasons. We used to have fire seasons in California at the opposite time of year to Australia so we could share resources. That is becoming harder and harder to do.
So the cost of the escalating climate crisis upon us now will only get worse if there is not dedicated action worldwide.
But what worries me is that change that's happening at a local level and at the state level that's now pushing governments around the world and obviously the youth strikes have been really important.
Young people that would prefer to be at school but they're getting out there, saying we'll take leadership if we are not seeing leadership by the adults. And I think for adults, it really puts the onus on us to find a way to do something, whatever our sphere of influence is.
ALLEN: Yes. All the signs they held up, they made their point. We appreciate your insights, Amanda McKenzie. Thank you.
MCKENZIE: Thanks for having me.
ALLEN: Sure thing.
As we have been reporting, Saudi Arabia said it would consider the attack on its oil facilities an act of war if an international investigation finds the strikes were fired from Iran.
[04:45:00]
ALLEN: That message comes from the Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs. And he spokes about it with CNN's Nic Robertson. Here's more of Nic's interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: The United States is sending a few hundred troops here, missile batteries.
Is that really enough to guarantee 100 percent protection for your vulnerable sites?
AL-JUBEIR: The United States and Saudi Arabia are close allies when it comes to the defense relationship and I believe the United States sending equipment now and the details of this are really with our ministry of defense.
But I believe that this situation will be assessed on a continual basis and adjustments made when needed.
ROBERTSON: Iran seems to detect that Saudi Arabia is in a weak position. The foreign minister there, Javad Zarif, said in effect that Saudi Arabia was willing to fight Iran down to the last U.S. soldier. That implies he thinks you can't stand up to them.
(CROSSTALK)
AL-JUBEIR: No, it confirms that he said many outrageous and outlandish things and frankly laughable things. We and the United States have been allies for eight years and we have fought many wars together. We have spilled blood, your blood and our blood together. Saudi Arabia always carries its weight, so the United States are not reckless when it comes to wars.
With war as a last resort, it's the Iranians who are reckless in engaging in such behavior.
ROBERTSON: Javad Zarif says that Iran isn't responsible for the attack, that he is willing to talk to Saudi Arabia.
What do you say to him?
AL-JUBEIR: He and other Iranian officials have said a lot of things that are frankly not correct, if not outright lies. So to say that they're not responsible for this or didn't do it is outrageous.
ROBERTSON: But if they're saying that then potentially they could do this again.
What happens then?
AL-JUBEIR: With regards to what they're saying, either Mr. Zarif is not telling the truth or he is not aware of what his government is doing.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTSON: What do you think?
Do you think that they are split?
AL-JUBEIR: We know that there is a part of the Iranian government that projects an image of wanting to talk to the world. But they don't seem to have influence and there's another part that wants to expand the revolution and take over the region.
And they don't want to talk. So it's like two faces of the same coin.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTSON: From your assessment, who is winning at the moment in Iran?
AL-JUBEIR: I can't establish this for a fact but what we've seen is that Iran's aggressive behavior has increased not decreased. Iran said to the region and to the world energy supplies have increased, not decreased.
ROBERTSON: But the hardliners are on the --
(CROSSTALK)
AL-JUBEIR: It appears so.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Nic Robertson there in that interview.
Well, another Kennedy could take a seat in the U.S. Senate but first he will have to beat another powerful Democrat.
Can he do it?
Also it is important to make friends on the campaign trail even if they are squirmy, crying infants. But for some politicians, that's easier said than done.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WORLD SPORTS)
[04:50:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING) ALLEN: The U.S. Senate may have another member of the Kennedy family
serving in it soon. Congressman Joe Kennedy III announced he is running for Senate. Despite his famous last name, he will have to beat a fellow Democrat who has been in office for more than four decades. Athena Jones has our story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Congressman Kennedy's run sets up a fight between two political powerhouses. You have Senator Ed Markey, who's been in the Senate since 1976, longer than Kennedy has been alive.
And you have a Kennedy, the grandson of Bobby Kennedy, running for office, running for Senate in a city and state that has shown a lot of love for the Kennedys over the years.
While some expect this to be the race centers around a generational argument since both candidates largely agree on major issues. Congressman Kennedy argues it's going to be more than that. He has new ideas, a new approach.
He says Democrats need to do more in 2020 than to defeat President Trump and he's talking about big structural changes to what he calls a broken system.
I asked him how he's going to differentiate himself from Senator Markey?
Here's part of his answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOE KENNEDY, (D-MA): I disagree on a number of areas. To begin with, one, structural reform. We need to get PAC money out of our system. I've rejected that. Senator Markey has not. I believe that you need to call for term limits for the Supreme Court to try to lower the temperature in the partisanship. I believe we need to abolish the Electoral College so you get the president that this country votes for and wants.
I look forward to seeing Senator Markey's views on more than that.
And more than that. It's about economic justice. I've laid out a wide variety of plans that I think we need to engage in order to make our economic system far more fair.
But, yes, there's going to be areas where we overlap and he's been a strong leader on climate.
(CROSSTALK)
JONES: One more --
(END VIDEO CLIP) JONES: Kennedy made his announcement here in East Boston because this
is where -- just steps away from this very spot, his father's parents first arrived here from Ireland in 1848. And he highlighted his family's long history of public service in his remarks.
And I should note there, as I mentioned before, there's a lot of love for Kennedys in this state. The latest poll from "The Boston Globe" and Suffolk University that came out just after Labor Day shows Kennedy way ahead, 14 points ahead of Markey in a head-to-head matchup and 9 points ahead of Markey in the rest of the field with the other primary challengers when you look at the whole field.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Athena Jones reporting for us there.
Well, as the U.S. presidential candidates can tell you, it is not easy to be on the campaign trail, especially when you have to compete against crying babies for attention. Jeanne Moos has our story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When candidates interact with babies, it usually makes you say, aww.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS, (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, you got to basically say it.
MOOS: But sometimes, instead of inspiring awe, they inspire irritation.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we could keep that down a little bit? OK, thanks.
MOOS: But babies don't take orders. Even from potential presidents.
This one kept fussing.
[04:55:00]
MOOS (voice-over): Babies are born with immunity to dirty looks. One day Bernie Sanders is kid friendly...
SANDERS: Oh, my goodness.
MOOS: -- the next day, he's literally waving them off.
Trevor Noah once tried to imagine Bernie as a baby.
TREVOR NOAH, COMEDY CENTRAL HOST: Has Bernie just looked like this his entire life?
Yes. I bet when he was born, the doctor was like, congratulations, Mrs. Sanders, it's a beautiful healthy old man. Well done.
MOOS: Bernie, evidently, doesn't believe in babying crybabies. SANDERS: If we could keep that down a little bit.
MOOS: But he was almost nurturing compared to a certain someone.
TRUMP: You can get the baby out of here.
MOOS: Actually, the baby's mom was already headed out since then- candidate Trump had called attention to the crying a minute or two earlier.
TRUMP: Don't worry about that baby. I love babies, so. I love babies.
MOOS: Trump has gone so far as to sign a baby.
TRUMP: Look at that baby. So cute. Oh, give me that.
MOOS: Sometimes a crying baby can be a political asset. Back in 2012.
BIDEN: I don't blame that baby for crying. She just realized what it means if Romney gets elected.
MOOS: Now in 2019, Joe Biden still zeroes in on the well-placed baby.
BIDEN: Pregnancy is no longer a pre-existing condition.
MOOS: Dad popped up for a selfie. Even when they grow up, this kid desperately wanted to hug the president. He flexed his hugging muscles, went in for the kill but pulled back and feigned nonchalance until, finally, the politicians are hoping some of that cuteness rubs off on them -- Jeanne Moos, CNN...
HARRIS: He's just charming me.
MOOS: -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Thanks for watching this hour. I'm Natalie Allen. CNN NEWSROOM continues right after this with our top stories.
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